MASSACHUSETTS GAMBLING BILL DEBATE NEXT WEEK

21 December 2007

Governor Deval Patrick will attempt to persuade state politicians to accept casino plan


Controversial state legislative proposals to license and tax casinos in Massachusetts, including a buried protectionist clause to outlaw online gambling, are to be extensively debated by lawmakers this week.

Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, as well as several casino executives, are expected to headline a hearing at the State House on the financial impact of the governor's casino proposal. The hearing will be the highest-profile to date on expanded gambling since the governor unveiled his proposal to license three casinos in September, reports the Boston Globe.

"The administration expects to be there in full force," said Kyle Sullivan, the governor's press secretary.

Also expected at the hearing are casino moguls Gary Loveman, the chief executive officer of Harrah's Entertainment, and Sheldon Adelson, who owns Las Vegas Sands and is the third-richest man in America.

Celebrity businessman Donald Trump, who is also interested in developing a casino in Massachusetts, declined an invitation to attend and is sending his lobbying team from Ventry Associates, led by Dennis Murphy, former state representative.

The hearing, which is before the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets, is designed to better gauge financial estimates of the casinos, so that legislators can better learn about long-range spending implications. It will provide a preview of the debate to come next year, when the bill is expected to be considered in full by a different panel, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.

"This has become, at least temporarily, the big circus," said Senator Mark Montigny, a Democrat from New Bedford and co-chairman of the committee.

The hearings had been pushed by the House chairman, Representative David Flynn, a Bridgewater Democrat and longtime supporter of the state's four racetracks. Owners at three of the state's four racetracks - Wonderland Greyhound Park, Plainridge Racecourse, and Raynham Park - also plan to present a rare united front, testifying that legislators should resurrect a plan to add slot machines at their tracks.

But an informal Globe poll of all 19 members of the legislative committee that will consider Patrick's proposal showed that it would probably get a negative vote that could prove difficult to overcome.

"There's a lot of strikes against it," said Representative Barry Finegold, a Democrat from Andover and a member of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies who does not support the governor's plan to license three casinos.

"I don't think the issue is dead," he said. "But it needs a whole lot of convincing."

Interviews with members of the influential panel present a microcosm of the debate that is taking place on Beacon Hill and illustrate the large hurdles Patrick faces, chief among them House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.

Twelve members of the committee said they are inclined to vote against the proposal, unless wholesale changes are made, such as reducing the number of casinos in the plan, giving more gambling proceeds to cities and towns, or allowing the state's racetracks to add slot machines. Three members said they are leaning in favor of the proposal. Four said they are on the fence.

Patrick's administration said it has been speaking with legislators, but most of those on the committee said they have not been contacted by the governor on the issue.

The governor's legislation, which was filed in October, would license one resort casino in Western Massachusetts, Southeastern Massachusetts, and metropolitan Boston. Patrick says each casino could generate $200 million to $300 million in licensing fees every 10 years. He is also counting on another $400 million a year for state coffers, gambling revenue that he would use for property tax relief and roads and bridges.

Proponents of the proposal argue that the state needs new sources of revenue. They also cite the amount of money Massachusetts residents are spending at neighbouring Connecticut casinos.

Committee members against the idea cited several reasons, saying they do not trust the revenue estimates supplied by the Patrick administration, which did not conduct an independent study and has provided little explanation of how it arrived at its numbers. They also argued some local businesses and resort communities would be negatively affected by the competition from casinos.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa